THE KIRÁLY BATH (KIRÁLY FÜRDŐ)

Budapest is the City of Spas. The map of the capital is speckled with medicinal and thermal waters, spas and baths. Not to mention the river Danube, running through the city, dividing and – at the same time – joining the two sides: Pest and Buda. No wonder medicinal baths are featured strongly in almost every promotional video and travel magazine about Budapest. It’s because they are beautiful, useful and offer healing, but also because they represent a form of recreation that is relaxing and refreshing for both body and soul.

Located on Fő Street, Király Bath is one of these picturesque and enchanting places. The construction of the tiny Bath started in 1565 by Arslan, the pasha of Buda, and after many years, it was finally finished by Sokollu Mustafa Pasha. The vaulted Bath operates with four medicinal pools but, interestingly, has always been far from the thermal water springs of Budapest. The reason behind this was the Turks’ need for a place for their ritual purification inside the city walls. They spared neither effort nor money to reroute thermal waters from a bit farther away, from the area of today’s Lukács Bath.

Fortunately, the Bath wasn’t destroyed by the kind citizens of Buda after the Turkish occupation. What is more, a family called Kőnig started to operate the building at the end of the 18th century. Király Bath, as we know it today, was named after the Kőnig family (both words meaning “king” in English)

Many peaceful generations went by before the Bath underwent a dramatic change: it was badly damaged in the Second World War, but perhaps this incident saved it from decay. The parts built in the Turkish era, together with the more recent ones, were renovated in the 1950s and since then, the Bath has been a destination for visitors with spinal and joint pains, or ones who just wish to relax, from all around the world.

And from now on, a part of the Bath will be home to something never seen before – the place is now known in police records as the hiding place of the swindler, Mr. Bajnóczy Pongrác.

A hiding place full of excitement and adventures, which refreshes and enchants the soul, and transports you to another world…

Are you ready for the investigation?

How to get there:

Take bus No. 86 or 160 or 260 to Bem József tér then walk to destination

Take metro line M2 to Batthyány tér then walk to destination

Take suburban railway line HÉV H5 to Batthyány tér then walk to destination

Take bus No. 11 or 39 or 86 or 111 or 160 or 260 to Batthyány tér then walk to destination